EE to open floodgates on UK’s first 4G LTE network sooner than expected

4G LTE to launch on Oct. 30 in ten cities, eventually covering 1/3 of the population.

After years of waiting, smartphone users in the UK will finally have 4G LTE networks available to them later this month. In a statement on its website, Everything Everywhere (EE)—one of the UK's largest telecommunications providers and an organization formed by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile UK—announced that the company will launch "the UK's first superfast mobile 4G" and fiber-optic broadband service on October 30. "We are very proud to be pioneering, innovating, and leading our industry in launching 4G for our nation through our new EE brand," CEO Olaf Swantee said in the statement.

EE will launch its 4G LTE network in ten cities, including London, Edinburgh, and Leeds. The company plans to expand service to 16 cities overall—about a third of the population. LTE-capable smartphones from Samsung, Huawei, Nokia, and HTC have been advertised as compatible with EE's network, but the news is particularly exciting for iPhone 5 users. They will be able to utilize the LTE-compatibility of Apple's latest smartphone on EE's network.

The news comes hot off the heels of UK telecom controversy. According to The Telegraph, EE was given up to a year to launch 4G services back in August. But British telecommunications regulator Ofcom had agreed to bend the rules for the company so that it could move forward with its plans, forcing its competitors, Vodafone and O2, to scramble and play catch-up.

However, the BBC reports that in an effort to obviate the possibility of a monopoly on LTE that would have only benefited EE, Ofcom has made a range of 4G spectrums available for auction. Vodafone and O2 can now purchase from the 800MHz and 2600MHz blocks Ofcom offers before building their own networks, allowing them the opportunity to future-proof their 4G LTE networks.

This really is rubbish.Ofcom has broken its own rules to favour one provider over the competition.

When has government intervention in a competitive market to favour one competitor ever ended well? You can imagine the US FTC issuing a ruling that AT&T is allowed to use "4G", but that other carriers are banned from doing so until they buy extra spectrum going down really well.

Technically, LTE can run on existing 3G bands without interference, it's like EDGE was to GPRS, it's an extension to HSxPA (which was in turn an extension to UMTS). Problem is that O2, Vodafone and 3 are not allowed to run LTE on their existing UMTS/HSxPA bandwidth[1] allocations and EE is. Not only that, but EE has been an extra-judicial merger of Orange and T-Mobile, so has much more bandwidth allocated than anyone else has.

Ofcom has handed the keys to the zoo to the elephants and is sat in a corner whispering "I know them. They won't wreck the place." At the same time, the bull elephant is leaning his trunk against a support column.

[1]Using "bandwidth" as its literal meaning, an RF band and how wide it is. "Spectrum" is widely abused as an equivalent term by those without background in the topic.

The news comes hot off the heels of UK telecom controversy. According to The Telegraph, EE was given up to a year to launch 4G services back in August. But British telecommunications regulator Ofcom had agreed to bend the rules for the company so that it could move forward with its plans, forcing its competitors, Vodafone and O2, to scramble and play catch-up.

However, the BBC reports that in an effort to obviate the possibility of a monopoly on LTE that would have only benefited EE, Ofcom has made a range of 4G spectrums available for auction. Vodafone and O2 can now purchase from the 800MHz and 2600MHz blocks Ofcom offers before building their own networks, allowing them the opportunity to future-proof their 4G LTE networks.

I am sorry but this description is just totally backwards.

The LTE 800/2600 auction has been in the pipeline for years, it has been delayed many times due to many different factors including legal threats by various operators (not least EE themselves). It is now scheduled for early next year to issue licences starting late spring/early summer (some DVB TV channels need to move to free 800Mhz in some areas). A major sticking point was OFCOM wanted to guarantee "3" an allocation (as the smallest potential bidder) to ensure there were at least 4 operators to give competition (after the Orange + T-mobile merger to EE).

EE pulled a fast one to get LTE on their 1800Mhz band (of which they have ample due to their merger) and even with this accelerated timetable will be the only LTE provider for over half a year (it would have been over a year before). The problem is their merger already gives them control of a LOT of the spectrum so much the EU has forced them to sell 15Mhz ("3" will be gaining control of this September 2013).

IIRC there was an ARS article saying that there will be 2 or 3 different Iphone5 versions for LTE as the two big US providers use different frequency ranges for LTE.So which phone/provider would one have to have in the USA to work LTE in the UK?

It think is is past time that the ITU got in on the act and specified a frequency band for all mobile phones worldwide, wide enough for the potential number of users and at a suitable frequency. Then move all the other old services like broadcast TV, the military and so on somewhere else.

When has government intervention in a competitive market to favour one competitor ever ended well?

When has this government's intervention in anything ended well? The most incompetent, inept, corrupt sorry sacks of shit to have ever disgraced our shores. Which is quite incredible given the last two lots we've had.

IIRC there was an ARS article saying that there will be 2 or 3 different Iphone5 versions for LTE as the two big US providers use different frequency ranges for LTE.So which phone/provider would one have to have in the USA to work LTE in the UK?

I am in much the same boat as you, needing a phone that will work on both sides of the Atlantic. If LTE in the UK is going to be in the 800 and 2600 MHz bands, then it rules out iPhones from AT&T because they will only do 700MHz and nothing else. Verizon phones may work better - I can't recall the exact bands they support. Unfortunately I live in Canada, not the US, where the Verizon phone isn't available (and wouldn't work if I brought one in) we only get the AT&T model here, so I am stuck. Will probably mean my next phone will be an Android device.

Florence Ion / Florence was a former Reviews Editor at Ars, with a focus on Android, gadgets, and essential gear. She received a degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and lives in the Bay Area.